CHICAGO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Some 1.7 million young illegal immigrants sought information on a deportation deferral program that would grant them two-year work permits, U.S. officials said.
The program -- initiated June 15 by President Barack Obama after the Dream Act legislation stalled in Congress -- would allow illegal immigrants less than 31 years of age who have lived in the country since they were children to defer deportation for two years, The New York Times reported. The referral does not provide any legal immigration status, but grants them the ability to work legally.